13 Things You Never Knew About ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’

Twenty-six years ago today, the world was introduced to an animated version of the now infamous character Roger Rabbit. After success of the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, Walt Disney Pictures purchased the rights in 1981 and set out to make an advanced production of live action scenes and animated sequences with the help of Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Over the past 26 years, investigator Eddie Valiant, voluptuous Jessica Rabbit, and the framed Roger have become iconic characters in American cinema. But what do we not know about the beloved film?

We opened the Disney vault to find 13 fun facts about the story of a man, a woman, and a rabbit in a triangle of trouble.

2. The film was the first time Warner Bros and Disney cartoons appeared together on screen, with over 100 classic cartoon cameos in the film. Though the film is set in 1947, lots of post-1947 characters appear including Mr. Toad from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Tinkerbell from Peter Pan (1952), and the penguins from Mary Poppins (1964).

3. Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Jack Nicholson, Ed Harris, Don Lane, Wallace Shawn, and Peter Renaday were all considered for the role of Eddie Valiant, who was described as slender with a beard in the original novel. Eddie Murphy revealed on Inside the Actor’s Studio it was the role he regretted turning down.

6. Though never appearing on screen, Charles Fleischer insisted on performing Roger Rabbit’s voice lines on set in a specially made Roger Rabbit suit. Bob Hoskins would later refer to Fleischer as “completely nuts.”

11. Jessica Rabbit’s iconic breast bouncing was created by reversing the natural up/down movements of her boobs as she walked. Hers bounce up when a real woman’s breasts would bounce down and vice versa.